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General Category => GENERAL Topics - Scottish or not => Topic started by: Stirling Thompson on February 19, 2015, 09:33:03 AM

Title: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on February 19, 2015, 09:33:03 AM
Well it has now been eight days since the last post on the forum so I'm beginning to wonder if everyone is OK out there. We're surviving up here in New England with over seven feet of snow so far in some places with more on the way this week. There have been about seventy (70) roof cave in incidents due to the weight of the snow in the past week. Is everyone else OK?
Stu
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: cheryllwith2ls on February 19, 2015, 10:43:05 AM
Hi Stu! Well, I'm here....but I live in sunny California right now so I'm doing ok. I know Mary is covered in a thick sheet of ICE. I've been working a lot so I haven't had a chance to get on here much. I'll be working on the Bell's Manuscript to see what Thompsons were listed on it. It will take some corresponding back & forth initially so I'll update everyone here on the progression of things.
Take care! Stay warm & safe -
Cheryll
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Ernestt481 on February 19, 2015, 05:30:59 PM
Hi Stu et al,
We're fine down here just waiting for a tropical cyclone to hit.
Ern & Cheryl
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on February 20, 2015, 09:33:16 AM
Ern, glad to hear you're all OK Down Under! We're waiting for more snow and/or freezing rain coming this weekend.
Stu
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: MICHAEL the Canadian on February 23, 2015, 01:18:13 PM
hello STIR up here in Canada we are just waiting for the cold cold cold winter to move on.

CheryLL must be nice in the sunny California?
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Thomas B. Thompson on February 23, 2015, 02:07:08 PM
Hi Stu,
  I've been sitting out the winter weather recovering from a total knee replacement which is going well.
Hope you thaw out soon.

Tom and Barbara   ( Indiana )
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Donna on February 25, 2015, 08:12:05 PM
Hey Stu,
"Lazy" is my excuse   :-X

Donna
In sunny California
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on March 02, 2015, 06:36:15 AM
Tom i hope you mend well and quickly. Donna sometimes we all get a little lazy just don't let it last too long. Michael the Canadian, its all your fault! Your cold and snow just keeps on coming south and there seems to be no end to it. At this rate the snow won't be completely gone until July. Enough already! I surrender! UNCLE!
Stu
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Donna on March 02, 2015, 11:07:40 AM
Please send some of that snow to California...
I think we're already into Summer out here!

Donna :D
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on March 03, 2015, 07:06:44 AM
Donna, actually, there was a piece on the news here a few days ago about a guy that was doing just that. It started as a joke but he has set up a website and will ship snow from his backyard to anywhere. You can buy it by the bottle or the box. The bottle was around $10 and box was around $80. Of course there is no guarantee it won't melt before it gets to you.
Stu
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Thomas B. Thompson on March 05, 2015, 07:38:28 PM
Stu,
  Thanks for the well wishes on the knee. Everything seems to be doing all right.
Having a little trouble going up and down steps ( still hurts somewhat ) but with some more time, it will be okay.
  I have a job interview in Cincinnati, Ohio which is about 72 miles from me and I am spending time reviewing my building code books.
With better weather coming in the rest of the week what is left of the snow should be gone.
Hopefully it will be the LAST snow.

Donna,
  Send some of your early summer to Indiana. Just recently we woke up to a -24 degree morning.

Best Wishes to all,

Tom & Barbara
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Mary on March 10, 2015, 04:28:31 PM
And we're FREE!  After the first bout of ice, we were stranded up here for 12 days. We finally took picks and shovels and chopped a 2 track lane for Tom to get down to the main road so he could get to a doctor's appointment. About 5 days later, we had ANOTHER ice storm and were in for 3 more days!
I don't mind snow, but this ice has been so devastating to the region and we had people without power for 10 days and longer .....and temps were well below zero and only in the low teens in the daytime. Luckily, people who had power managed to get their generators to churches and town halls so there was enough energy to run personal medical equipment, lights, heat and microwaves for hot food. Quite a time. We were lucky that we didn't lose power because we don't have a generator and no one could have gotten to us.

Anxious now for spring - by the way, our first daffodils are blooming!

Glad to know you all are well.

Also, wondering if it's time to just lock this forum and give up trying to get people to post......? We have a Facebook page - maybe we should put our efforts into it? It seems more in line with the 'young and hip' among us...............
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on March 10, 2015, 06:54:40 PM
Mary, happy to hear you're all OK. I've always said I'd rather have a foot of snow than a quarter inch of ice. Luckily we don't get the ice storms too often, we had one a couple years ago that was really devastating to parts of New England.

As for shutting down the forum I'm personally opposed to that idea. Facebook and/or Twitter are fine for some things but I don't believe they can handle prolonged serious discussions or topics such as we have at times here on the forum. Or maybe I'm just old and tech resistant. I check the forum at least daily, facebook maybe a few times a week but hardly ever beyond my own homepage.
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: cheryllwith2ls on March 10, 2015, 10:00:44 PM
C'mon Daffodils! Mary, you and Tom need a generator! Seems like that would be a must living out there. I'm glad everyone seems to be thawing out.

I am TOTALLY with Stu. We need this forum! I too check it daily and read things you guys have posted, all the time! Heck, I even check it twice daily if truth be known.
Facebook is great but it could never take the place of all the information on here! I think people are on here reading to learn about the Thompsons and the Reivers and Scotland and run out of time to post! :)
ORRR.... maybe they don't feel comfortable or knowledgeable enough to say anything.

Hey, that just gave me an idea......Why don't we have like a "game" on here...? Some sort of interactive game of trivia or something. Find the members that are actively on here and say.... weekly... we have 3 people that are called out to answer 1 question each for the week. That way we could all participate and you wouldn't have the same people answering all the time. Maybe we could email them their question or something. Does that sound stupid?? LOL :)  I don't know....... it might be fun!

Oh and thanks for putting our games on here!
Cheryll

Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Thomas B. Thompson on March 13, 2015, 12:19:04 PM
I'm in agreement with Stu and Cheryll.
I also look at the forum often and appreciate the things posted.
I've posted or replied more this year then I have in the past, but I'm a slow poke.

Perhaps when new members sign up, they could post a little about their Scottish heritage
and how they were drawn to the clan and how they might like to see the clan to develop in the future.

Anyways, for those who post more often than I do---THANK YOU for you posts.
As for the rest of the members---- at least say hi----we are family and families do keep in
touch.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the games I can attend.

Best Wishes,

Tom and Barbara
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on April 11, 2015, 10:31:23 AM
I guess we're back to this again! It's been 9 days since the last post here and I really have to wonder if anyone is out there. Hopefully things will improve once the games season gets underway.
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Thomas Thompson on April 13, 2015, 05:39:51 PM
HOORAW

    TAX day has come and gone.....
    Spring has put on new flowers and I am ready for the summer games.
   If I had my druthers I would like to shake hands with each and every one of our members this summer.
Tom
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Mary on April 22, 2015, 05:25:04 PM
Hi Guys!

New members don't seem very interested in posting - to the point where we will be taking much of the forum and archiving it. Only PAID members would be able to access it - some topics would remain viewable by all, but with all the people I can see accessing it and the fact that none of them post or help support the research efforts, I just don't think that we need to continue giving them everything we've worked for years on for free. The board has approved it - it's just a matter of when I can get to which posts/topics will be which.

Most clans have really nothing like this - maybe they discovered that people are generally 'takers' but not 'givers' when it comes to the forums.

Mary
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Donna on April 25, 2015, 12:39:25 AM
I agree with you, Mary.

Donna
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Thomas B. Thompson on June 12, 2015, 01:39:33 AM
To the 46 guest that access the forum today, thank you for checking in to see
what's going on. But please, how about some comments on some of the topics or adding something. If you're more comfortable  with face book, that's great too.
Would like to hear from you.

have a great summer,

Tom Thompson ( Indiana )
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Mary on July 02, 2015, 07:04:42 PM
Frustrating, isn't it?  Our new members seem too shy to post and the older members have carried the ball for years.

The forum will stay up whether anyone posts or not, but it is frustrating that we have so much good info but no one can take 30 seconds to comment or ask a question........
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on July 03, 2015, 07:10:08 AM
Sometimes it seems like I'm talking to myself on here. But I will continue to post here because I just don't feel comfortable on facebook and I don't even have an account on twitter. The forum used to be such a great and fun place to share our research, thoughts and ideas and it is a genuine shame to see it fall to such a state as it's in right now. Maybe you're right and it is time for us to go members only but I don't know because even with the decreased usage it still lets people know we exist and helps get the word out about our Clan.
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Donna on July 05, 2015, 05:06:40 AM
Happy 4th of July everyone!
I will really try to post more often I promise but my eyes are getting pretty bad and
 Stu, don't worry about talking to yourself...I do it all the time!  ;D

Donna
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: Stirling Thompson on July 05, 2015, 10:59:31 AM
Thanks Donna. Its kind of like preaching to choir, the same folks always respond and its not them I have an issue with. Its the noobies... its hard to truly belong to something if you can't or won't be an active participant. If all you want to do is take and give back nothing in return then why even bother. I have always tried (especially since MacTavish left us) to step up and be as active as possible. Most people seem to like the jokes and poems I post. Those threads, along with music and games, are fairly easy to contribute too. With the games, you don't have to run a tent but if you attend a particular game or festival share you thoughts and reactions with the rest of the clan. Maybe we can all learn something.
Title: Re: Is anyone out there?
Post by: cheryllwith2ls on November 29, 2015, 09:27:13 AM
STILL HERE!!!!!!!!!!

:)

C'mon people! Hasn't anyone come across some interesting things to post??  :)    Here's one for ya.  Maybe some of you read about it in the paper...or saw it posted on our Facebook page.
I thought it was fantastic!

http://www.scotsusa.com/piping/us-astronaut-first-to-play-bagpipes-in-space/